Abstract Technological advancements spawn products that tend to be useful when placed in the appropriate hands. Here we investigated whether potential benefits of owning a feedback device were driven by individual differences in environmental values (i.e. biospherism), or whether the device alone is sufficient to reduce energy over time. We examined a total of 276 households, 138 equipped with a feedback device formed our treatment group, and 138 control households selected from a wider pool of households (+2000) based on their similarity to the treatment households, according to a statistical matching procedure. The results indicated that individuals with low biospheric values fail to decrease their electricity expenditure when paired with a feedback device. Conversely, highly biospheric individuals do engage in more pro-environmental behaviour when they receive feedback, but only when they have owned the device for about three years or more. We obtained additional insights, by focusing on differences within the treatment group that suggest, once again, that only highly biospheric individuals who owned the device for over three years successfully implement changes in the household. Overall, these results indicate that feedback devices such as smart meters can be important tools in achieving energy reductions only when paired with environmentally concerned individuals. Given the current trend towards increased feedback technology, policy implications for decision makers are discussed.

中文翻译：

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反馈设备只帮助关注环境的人随着时间的推移采取有利于环境的行动

摘要 技术进步产生了放在适当的手中时往往有用的产品。在这里，我们调查了拥有反馈设备的潜在好处是否由环境价值的个体差异（即生物圈）驱动，或者该设备是否足以随着时间的推移减少能量。我们检查了总共 276 个家庭，其中 138 个配备了反馈设备的家庭组成了我们的治疗组，138 个控制家庭根据统计匹配程序从更广泛的家庭 (+2000) 中选出，根据他们与治疗家庭的相似性。结果表明，当与反馈设备配对时，生物圈值较低的个体无法减少电力支出。反过来，高度生物圈的人在收到反馈时确实会采取更亲环境的行为，但前提是他们拥有该设备大约三年或更长时间。通过关注治疗组内部的差异，我们获得了更多的见解，这再次表明，只有拥有该设备超过三年的高度生物圈的个人才能成功地在家庭中实施变革。总体而言，这些结果表明，只有与关注环境的个人配对时，智能电表等反馈设备才能成为实现节能的重要工具。鉴于当前反馈技术增加的趋势，对决策者的政策影响进行了讨论。通过关注治疗组内部的差异，再次表明，只有拥有该设备超过三年的高度生物圈个人才能成功地在家庭中实施变革。总体而言，这些结果表明，只有与关注环境的个人配对时，智能电表等反馈设备才能成为实现节能的重要工具。鉴于当前反馈技术增加的趋势，对决策者的政策影响进行了讨论。通过关注治疗组内部的差异，再次表明，只有拥有该设备超过三年的高度生物圈个人才能成功地在家庭中实施变革。总体而言，这些结果表明，只有与关注环境的个人配对时，智能电表等反馈设备才能成为实现节能的重要工具。鉴于当前反馈技术增加的趋势，对决策者的政策影响进行了讨论。这些结果表明，只有与关注环境的个人配对时，智能电表等反馈设备才能成为实现节能的重要工具。鉴于当前反馈技术增加的趋势，对决策者的政策影响进行了讨论。这些结果表明，只有与关注环境的个人配对时，智能电表等反馈设备才能成为实现节能的重要工具。鉴于当前反馈技术增加的趋势，对决策者的政策影响进行了讨论。